B'nai B'rith International was one of several Jewish organizations that weighed in on the results of the Greek parliament elections, after victories by the extreme Syriza, Independent Greeks (ANEL) and Golden Dawn parties.

Greece has long struggled to combat anti-Semitism, and B'nai B'rith has followed the situation closely, engaging with government leaders to advocate for tolerance and help diffuse tensions.

B'nai B'rith International was quoted in an article on JNS.org, which reflected the organization's concerns for the election outcomes.

Read excerpts from the article below:

Jewish leaders have expressed both hope and concern over the outcome of the Greek election on Sunday, in which the radical left-wing Syriza party won 149 parliament seats and 36.3 percent of the vote.

Syriza officials have called for the end of Israel’s “brutality against Palestinians,” and Panos Kammenos—the leader of the right-wing Independent Greeks (ANEL) party, with whom Syriza formed a majority coalition—garnered accusations of anti-Semitism last December for claiming that Greek Jews do not pay taxes.

Golden Dawn, an extreme-right neo-Nazi party, placed third in results that polls suggested were driven largely by voters’ economic concerns.

The Greek Jewish community consists of about 5,000 people out of the country’s total population of 11.2 million, according to the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC).

The community has experienced rising anti-Semitic sentiment that is correlated with both the country’s economic crisis as well as escalations in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict such as last summer’s Operation Protective Edge in Gaza.

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B’nai Brith International told JNS.org in a statement that the group is concerned by some “past statements about Israel made by [Syriza] party leaders,” but hopes “that the relationship with Israel, which had been building over the past decade in many fields, will be unaffected by the outcome.”

Five years ago, B'nai B'rith International commemorated the 65th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp, in part, by urging the United States government to help support the Auschwitz Memorial that had fallen critically short of funding.

The Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum serves as a tribute to the lives lost at the most notorious of Nazi concentration camps, and also serves as a crucial reminder of the danger of hatred and intolerance to future generations.

B'nai B'rith asked President Barack Obama and the Senate Appropriations Committee to consider a $5 million budget item that could be designated to the Auschwitz-Birkenau Foundation Perpetual Fund to help restore and maintain the memorial facilities.

Auschwitz must be restored to bear witness to Nazi tyranny and genocide. The memorial has proven a vital education site for millions of visitors.

The camp was constructed to be a housing and execution facility. Because of the lack of foundations and winter-proofing in many of the buildings, more than half of them are closed because they are unsafe for public entry.

According to estimates by the museum, none of the buildings will be open for public visits within the next 10 or 20 years if plans for preservation are not implemented.Current conservation and preservation needs are estimated to be in excess of $87 million. Under the plan of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Foundation Perpetual Fund, that sum will be collected from private and national donors and will be invested through a transparent process.

Given the estimated annual accruement from that investment, the museum intends to use the interest gained to pay for regular conservation and maintenance efforts rather than requesting foreign aid regularly.

Instead of repeatedly raising funds, under this system the museum will have the necessary revenue to maintain the facilities. More than 17 nations have agreed so far to contribute to the restoration. The United States must join this effort.

At a special conference in Cracow, Clinton informed about the decision of the U.S. president Barack Obama. “The United States strongly encourages other nations who have not already done so to follow suit and to contribute to the Auschwitz-Birkenau fund. In 2009 alone, more than 1.3 million people from around the world visited the museum and memorial. The preservation and continuation of Auschwitz Memorial is essential so that future generations can see for themselves why the world must never again allow a place of such hatred to scar the soul of humankind."

B'nai B'rith International recently announced that Irene M. Thompson, president and CEO of the University HealthSystem Consortium (UHC), will receive the organization's National Healthcare Award.

For three decades, B’nai B’rith has underscored the outstanding work of health care leaders and corporations that set the standards for health and education initiatives. The standards set by these distinguished professionals ultimately betters the lives of people throughout their communities and around the world.

As president and chief executive officer, Thompson is responsible for the overall operation of UHC. Under her leadership UHC’s membership has grown significantly to 117 academic medical centers and nearly 330 of their affiliated hospitals. UHC represents the majority of the nation’s nonprofit academic medical centers to help them improve clinical, operational and financial performance.Thompson is a member and the immediate past chair of the American Heart Association Midwest Affiliate Board of Directors and a member of the American Heart Association National Corporate Operations Committee. She also serves on the boards of directors for America’s Essential Hospitals and the National Center for Healthcare Leadership. Previously, Thompson served as board chair for UHC and for the Association of American Medical Colleges’ Council of Teaching Hospitals and Health Systems. She was president of the Kansas City, Kan., Chamber of Commerce and has served on numerous other community not-for-profit boards. In 2013 and 2007, Thompson was named one of Modern Healthcare Magazine’s Top 25 Women in Healthcare.“With her current position overseeing UHC and all of its affiliates, combined with her work at the American Heart Association and a number of other non-profits, it’s clear that Irene Thompson is truly a leader in the field of health care. Not only is her track record impressive, but the number of leaders in her field endorsing her with the announcement of this award speaks to how deserving a recipient she is,” B’nai B’rith International Executive Vice President Daniel S. Mariaschin said.The recipients of the B’nai B’rith National Healthcare Award have shown a history of dedicated leadership and outstanding civic involvement in the health care field and in the broader community. Award winners support philanthropic causes benefiting health, youth, seniors and education programs.

In Harmarville on Wednesday nights, a group of Jewish men bowl. For many of them, this has been common practice for well over three decades.

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The bowlers are affiliated with the International B’nai B’rith Bowling Association. For years, between 10 and 15 members of the local group traveled to the International B’nai B’rith Bowling Tournament.

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Throughout the year, the group throws multiple social events. In the past, bowling-themed stag parties have occurred at Congregation Beth Shalom in Squirrel Hill, area restaurants or Rivers Casino. At the end of the year, the group hosts a banquet and awards prize money to members.

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During the season, bowling occurs on Wednesday nights at Fun Fest in Harmarville, 2525 Freeport Road. Prospective members can contact Neustein at 412-422-2782 for more information.

The advocacy efforts were later detailed by Dr. William E. Korey, director of the New York Bureau of the B'nai B'rith International Council, in the February 1965 issue of the National Jewish Monthly, a publication produced by B'nai B'rith:

This month, the United Nations General Assembly will be deeply involved in creating a historic and powerful legal instrument directed against discrimination on racial and ethnic grounds. The so-called 'Convention of the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination' will bind all states that ratify it to take specific measures aimed at removing barriers to human dignity.

While this proposed international treaty is particularly popular in Asian and African circles, it is instructive to note that the decision to write it was sparked by the 'swastika epidemic' of 1959-60. The 'epidemic' had been triggered by the swastika desecration of a synagogue in Cologne, West Germany, on December 24, 1959; in the next few months, some 1,800 incidents of an anti-Semitic character were reported in over 40 countries.

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Of particular interest to Jewish communities throughout the world is a new Article that has been advanced be the United States to 'condemn anti-Semitism' and to oblige contracting states to 'take action...for its speedy eradication...' President Lyndon B. Johnson states last October in a message to a New York rally on Soviet anti-Semitism that he had personally 'instructed' the American delegate to the Commission on Human Rights, Mrs. Marietta Tree, to propose the new article for the Convention.

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B'nai B'rith has made available a specially-prepared memorandum which spells out the reasons why an Article condemning anti-Semitism is particularly appropriate for the contemplated international treaty. Among other things it points out that anti-Semitism is a form of racial or ethnic discrimination which has a longer and more persistent history than perhaps any other form, reaching back more than 2,000 years.

Furthermore, anti-Semitism is a classic example--as evidenced by the history of naziism--of the use of racial and ethnic discrimination as an instrument for the seizure of political power, for the destruction of free institutions and for the launching of foreign aggression.

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In addition to promoting the support of the article, B'nai B'rith in vigorously urging that effective implementation machinery be established by the Convention to see that it is enforced. Were the implementation machinery to include a procedure for not merely complaints by governments about violations of the treaty--this seems to have considerable support--but also complaints from non-governmental organizations, then a long step forward would have been taken in the direction of enforcement of human rights.

The end goal of the Convention was to ensure religious freedom throughout the world. This is a policy upon which the organization has made great strides, and is still vigorously pursued by B'nai B'rith International 50 years later.

Two international organizations–one of which has the American Jewish Committee as an affiliate, and the other representing B’nai B’rith and the Board of Deputies of British Jews–urged a United Nations body here today not only to adopt an international convention calling for the elimination of all forms of religious intolerance, but also to formulate procedures of implementation which would put enforcement teeth into a UN document guaranteeing religious freedom throughout the world.The steps were taken here before the United Nations Sub commission on the Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities. This 14 member body has before it several preliminary drafts of a religious freedoms convention which became international law when finally adopted by the UN General Assembly and ratified by a sufficient number of member states.The statements were submitted by the International League for the Rights of Man, represented here by Sidney Liskofsky, a staff member of the American Jewish Committee, which is affiliated with the League; and by Gustav Warburg, representing the Coordinating Board of Jewish Organizations, comprised of the B’nai B’rith and the British Board.

To honor the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Germany and Israel, B'nai B'rith International's World Center and B’nai B’rith Frankfurt Lodge President Ralph Hofmannarranged a goodwill soccer tour by the German women's powerhouse FCC Turbine Potsdam.

The squad arrived in Germany on Monday and will remain for the rest of the week. Coverage of the visit can be found in the Jerusalem Post and through team social media and publications.

The team’s trip will be a milestone in woman’s soccer in Israel. It will provide an opportunity to improve the sporting level, while also increasing interest in women’s soccer and improving sporting ties between the two countries.

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The team’s visit will include an official friendly match with the Israeli national under-19 team, training clinics and visits to significant national and historical sites including Jerusalem’s Old City, Masada and Yad Vashem.

The visit was coordinated by the B’nai B’rith World Center in Jerusalem – the official presence of B’nai B’rith International in Jerusalem and its public affairs arm in Israel.

Nearly 30 players and professional staff will participate in the visit, in addition to two representatives of the German television station RBB.

It was a devastating start to the new year in France, as a total of 17 innocent civilians were executed by Islamic terrorists in four separate incidents in Paris.

After a major attack on the satirical publisher Charlie Hebdo on Thursday, the Jewish community was specifically targeted with a deadly hostage situation on Friday in the kosher supermarket Hyper Cacher.

While anti-Semitic attacks in France have largely flown under the radar in recent years, they are increasingly common for the French Jewish community.

B'nai B'rith International Executive Vice President Daniel S. Mariaschin was quoted in an article in the Jewish News Service, urging European leaders to be proactive against fanatical Islam.

Read excerpts from the story, below:

[...]Since the March 2012 attack in which Mohammed Merah killed three children and a rabbi at Jewish school in Toulouse, the threat of Islamic terrorism has not let up for Jews and the general public in France.

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B’nai B’rith International Executive Vice President Daniel S. Mariaschin told JNS.org that those outside of France and Europe should “call on leadership to really begin to address this growing menace” of Islamism.“These threats are threats [not only to Jews but also] to the democratic fabric of post-war Europe,” and European leaders cannot go on much longer without well-organized efforts to deal with the problem, Mariaschin said.

B'nai B'rith International is an outspoken critic of the ongoing efforts by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to avoid bilateral negotiations with Israel in favor of lobbying in world bodies.

Peace can only be achieved through meaningful, bilateral negotiations. The PA’s continued internationalization of the conflict with Israel has only exacerbated the situation.

The United Nations Security Council Tuesday rejected a Palestinian resolution demanding Israel withdraw from disputed territories within three years. The motion fell one short of the minimum nine “yes” votes in the Security Council. It received eight “yes” votes, two “no” votes and five abstentions:

No: The United States and AustraliaYes: Russia, China, France, Argentina, Chad, Chile, Jordan and Luxembourg.Abstain: The United Kingdom, Lithuania Nigeria, South Korea and Rwanda.

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Nevertheless, Abbas continues to pin the Palestinian Authority’s hopes on the United Nations instead of engaging in serious negotiations with Israel.

A day after the Palestinian bid for a mandatory Israeli withdrawal to pre-1967 lines failed at the UN Security Council, Mahmoud Abbas signed a Palestinian request to join the International Criminal Court. He plans to bring Israeli officials before the court for alleged war crimes.

Israel Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu says “That step will be blocked too. If anyone needs to fear facing the international court, it is the Palestinians.”B’nai B’rith International says Abbas’ machinations have made patently clear its unpreparedness to make the hard decisions necessary to finally achieve peace and coexistence. Abbas’ path of confrontation and unilateralism gravely violates his responsibility to end the conflict through meaningful direct negotiations and compromise with Israel. His path also denies Israel basic guarantees of its security and recognition as a Jewish state.

The start of Chanukah brought the welcome news that Alan Gross was returning to the United States from Cuba, where he had been held in deteriorating health for five years.

B'nai B'rith International expressed relief that he would be reunited with his family and gratitude to the administration for facilitating the high-level negotiations necessary to bring him back to the United States.

Daniel Mariaschin, who directs B'nai B'rith International, a group with a strong Latin American presence, said a new era of ties "will raise the profile of Latin American communities and interest in those communities."[...]Obama insisted that Gross was not part of the spy exchange and that, in fact, his imprisonment held up changes to the U.S. Cuba relationship he had intended on initiating years ago."While I've been prepared to take additional steps for some time, a major obstacle stood in our way," the president said, referring to Gross' "wrongful imprisonment."

NJJN Article Also Ran In:

B’nai B’rith International warmly welcomes, and is relieved by the news of, Alan Gross’ release from a Cuban prison after five years.

The United States and Cuban governments announced this morning that Gross will be returned to America in exchange for three Cubans jailed in Florida.Gross was arrested in 2009 while working to set up Internet access for the Cuban-Jewish community as a contractor for the U.S. Agency for International Development.B’nai B’rith is grateful for the efforts of the Administration and all those who assisted in facilitating the high-level discussions leading to Gross’ release.

We are thinking of Gross, his family and his friends on the occasion of his release, especially coming during the holiday of Chanukah.

Jewish groups, ecstatic over the release of the suburban Washington resident, were cautiously optimistic in greeting news of the thaw.

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Daniel Mariaschin, who directs B’nai B’rith International, a group with a strong Latin American presence, said a new era of ties “will raise the profile of Latin American communities and interest in those communities.”

Cuban security arrested Gross in December 2009, sending a strong message to the U.S. government and collecting a bargaining chip to help in negotiations over Cuba’s biggest grievance with Washington: the 1998 arrest in Miami of the “Cuban Five,” spies convicted of contributing to the deaths of four Americans.

It is likely that Gross was targeted because he is Jewish­—not out of anti-Semitism, but because his identity would make him a more valuable asset during negotiations.Soon after Gross was jailed, a campaign to win his release took shape. The American Jewish Committee, the Anti-Defamation League, B’nai B’rith International, the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington, the Jewish Community Relations Council, and the Orthodox Union all played a role.